Lando Norris confirmed that he was feeling more confident this week than he had done seven days ago in Vegas, and was hoping for a strong result this weekend in Abu Dhabi to finish off the 2023 season.
Norris made a premature exited from last week's race in Las Vegas when he suffered a heavy accident on lap 3. He was out of the car for the first session at Yas Marina in favour of IndyCar star Pato O'Ward.
But there were no signs of any lasting effects when he did finally get back behind the wheel of the McLaren and went second-quickest behind Charles Leclerc in a red flag-hit second practice.
“It was decent," Norris said of his FP2 session. I got comfortable and confident very quickly which is always important on a day when you miss FP1.
"But I got confident quickly and could push on, the car was performing pretty well. A few things to look into, but otherwise a decent day.
"Today I was happy, the car was obviously quite quick. Definitely a bit to find. I think it’s just very close, it’s going to be very close here tomorrow in qualifying.
“One or two tenths is easily five, six positions come tomorrow afternoon," he said. "It’s trying to find the little things tonight that can make a big difference come tomorrow.
“Messy, of course," he acknowledged of the session that saw red flags for accidents involving Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg. "Not many laps today, I think like five push laps in total."
Norris admitted that he hadn't managed to get any high fuel long run laps because of the loss of track time. "A little bit behind from a long run perspective but maybe I can make up for that tomorrow.
"So not the Friday that I would want, especially from an FP2 perspective and trying to make up laps on everyone," he admitted. "I just felt like I lost even more.
“But we're in a good position, definitely. We are more confident and comfortable than we were in Vegas and a few other races."
His team mate Oscar Piastri is heading into his last race as an official F1 rookie, but he's driven at the Yas Marina Circuit before in young driver tests and support series so is a welcome sight after Vegas.
“It was nice to be back somewhere I’ve driven before definitely,” Piastri said, admitting that the red flags meant that it had not been "not the smoothest day for everyone".
"Definitely a few things to work on but the car looked really competitive," he said, echoing Norris's verdict. “I’m confident in what I am able to do, just need to tidy up a couple of mistakes and we will be good.
“I think the car is in a decent spot, a few things to tweak here and there, a few things to change in my driving but all in all it’s in a good place.
“Q3 is definitely the minimum," he added when asked what McLaren were aiming for in qualifying tomorrow. "Lando showed that the pace of the car now, and I’m pretty confident that if I get everything together I can be there as well."
And as for Sunday's race, Piastri said: "We didn’t fully see what Red Bull's pace was like today, but I think we're fighting well and truly at the front.”
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
